f/8 and be there
- Thread starter bajasurf
- Start date
Lost Canadian
Expedition Leader
The one caveat is things get tricky when you start talking different formats. Good article, makes complete sense, right up until the end when they point out that some cameras like micro 4/3rds cameras are smaller and less conspicuous. Yes they are, but then the F8 part, the technical part of the statement changes if you're using smaller then full frame. A full frame camera with a 35mm lens shooting a subject 10 feet away has an "in focus zone" of about 18 feet total, that starts about 6 feet from the shooter and extends to about 24 feet away. If you use a 35mm lens on a Micro 4/3rds camera it equates to about a 70mm lens shooting on full frame, and using the same aforementioned aperture and distance would give you only about a 6 and a half foot "in focus zone." About 7.5 feet from the shooter and extending to 14 feet past the shooter.
To get the same equivalence as using a 35 mm and F8 in full frame terms on a micro 4/3rds system you need to shoot at around 17mm and you only need an aperture of about F4 to get the same depth. Doing so with a subject 10 feet away gives you roughly the same field of view as 35mm on full frame, and about the same "in focus zone" which is about 21 feet total, starting some 6 feet from the shooter and extending to about 27 feet past him/her. If you're using a cropped APS-C camera, well these numbers change yet again, and will fall somewhere in between.
That's one of the key benefits of Micro 4/3rds for street shooting, you get increased depth with wider apertures.
To get the same equivalence as using a 35 mm and F8 in full frame terms on a micro 4/3rds system you need to shoot at around 17mm and you only need an aperture of about F4 to get the same depth. Doing so with a subject 10 feet away gives you roughly the same field of view as 35mm on full frame, and about the same "in focus zone" which is about 21 feet total, starting some 6 feet from the shooter and extending to about 27 feet past him/her. If you're using a cropped APS-C camera, well these numbers change yet again, and will fall somewhere in between.
That's one of the key benefits of Micro 4/3rds for street shooting, you get increased depth with wider apertures.
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loren85022
Explorer
Aside from the cliche title, the piece is a good read, however I suspect if anyone picked their favorite photos at say http://500px.com/, not many would be shot at f8. Its where a reporter might start, but for most non-pros like myself, I'm hoping a photo offers more than just a reference shot. For 'overlanding' I tend to use the Sunny 16 Rule (f16 @ 1/160th) as my 'go to' setting for 90% of the day. Far more vivid skies, etc. But thats just my humble opinion.
ssssnake529
Explorer
Wouldn't a 35mm lens at f:8 have the same range of focus no matter what size sensor it's used on? i thought that focus depth is determined by the combination of length of lens and aperture. Why would it be dependent on what sensor the light ultimately lands on?
Why wouldn't a 35mm lens at f:8 have the same depth of field whether it's mounted on a film camera, full frame digital, aps-c digital, or micro 4/3? The sensor size will change is how much the image is cropped (so a 4/3 sensor will yield 1/2 of the field of view of a full frame) but why would sensor size have any impact at all on depth of focus?
(I understand that a 17.5mm lens mounted on a micro 4/3 sensor will provide the same field of view as a 35mm lens on a full frame sensor, and a 17.5 mm lens will provide relatively greater depth of field than a 35mm lens. My question is about the same 35mm lens mounted on different sensor bodies.)
Lost Canadian
Expedition Leader
If you change your format (plane size) you change the circle of confusion. Have fun reading. :elkgrin:
...or you can just use a depth of field calculator.
Here's one
Here's another.
...and yet another.